- In this video, we're gonna go through how I turned
my garage into a full YouTube studio.
I went from this
to this, and also I've created
all of these different looks out of this space.
Now I have a little special assistant today
because someone is on a nap strike.
So are you gonna show them the studio?
All right, guys, let's get into it.
(upbeat music)
So last November, we moved from our apartment into a house,
and on the property is this garage.
So I thought it would be the perfect spot
to build out a studio, however, when we moved in,
this was completely unfinished.
(upbeat music)
I've got the master insulator here.
This is my father.
He's helping me build out my studio.
(upbeat music)
Yo! - Yo buddy.
- [Jeven] You got some extra foam in here?
- Yeah, I got some right there for you.
- [Jeven] Yeah.
(upbeat music)
So what I wanna do in this video is
go through some of the gear that I use
'cause obviously gear's important.
I've had a ton of you ask me about this backdrop,
and I'll explain kind of how I came up with this idea.
My storage over here, my workspace over here.
And then, you know, we're gonna talk about
what's coming next because after I finish
recording this video, I have to tear all of this down.
So she's clearly interested in this giant screen
that I have right here.
So I guess one of the key things,
let me turn this camera on,
so one of the key things that comes to having
a space like this is being able to see yourself.
And I've always thought that having a big monitor
makes it so much easier to create content.
So this is actually a ViewSonic computer monitor.
You know, these are super good
for doing color grading and all of that.
I actually did a video about this monitor specifically,
and instead of using it for my computer,
I'm using it for playback.
So I have my camera over there.
My playback here so that I can see myself
on a massive screen and be able to see
focus, color, exposure.
Nice burp, all right.
It's time to go get some food for this little one.
I'm gonna go drop her off.
(garage door rattling)
Okay, well it's not food time yet.
So she's gonna hang out with me a little longer.
So the cameras that I'm shooting on are the Panasonic GH5,
one over there, one right here, and sometimes I use a third.
And you can see from these three shots,
I'll set up different looks around my studio
with moving cameras.
So this is kind of standard.
I have my setup over here.
I have enough separation where I can, you know, shoot,
so I have some depth back here and this goes out of focus,
you know, with a Micro Four Thirds,
you definitely need to get yourself
further away from the camera.
So for audio, what I'm using is, I guess,
let me back this up, hold on.
Okay, so now you can see the full set of, you know,
the edges where you don't really wanna show, but,
so I'm gonna put all of this gear that I'm using
in a kit and it's gonna be down below in the description
so you can see every piece of gear that I use.
So I use a Sennheiser mic and it has a pattern
where it gets very good audio right here.
It's not a super long shotgun mic, it's actually a stubby.
And the reason is I'm only talking in this space.
So I want clean audio here,
I don't need to get audio over there.
Use a shotgun mic to get our audio further away.
Now, if I'm doing something
where I'm walking around the studio,
I'll put my camera on a SwitchPod,
I'll walk around and I'll use
just a Rode shotgun mic on top.
Sometimes I'll do wireless mic,
but when I'm in the studio, you know,
I've tried to make this as soundproof as possible.
So I just use mics on top of cameras
and I generally get good sound anywhere I go in the space.
Now one thing that I've found that's really cool
about working in the studio space is the ability
to shoot in different spots around here.
So sometimes I'll put the camera down low
on the ground over there.
Sometimes I'll put it in different corners,
but you can create a ton of different looks
if you just think of the studio as a whole.
I have my set here that I enjoy creating from,
and this is a great spot to do like reviews,
anything with a computer, this is a good standing set.
But having this kind of geodome design that I've built,
it allows me to kind of put myself down into the space.
I can be in different corners,
and this becomes like a focal point.
So what a geodome is,
is like a structural thing that you build.
And what's really cool about this setup is
that I built this from a pre-made kind of kit.
So each one of these corners that you see
is a plastic little attachment,
and it has five or six places
where you can attach these wooden dowels.
Now how you use these is you put them in a certain pattern
and it ends up building a full dome.
Now for me, what I did,
because I need to build like kind of a three-wall set
to be able to shoot into,
I just built half the dome,
and then I attached it to the ceiling.
So if you look up here, I've just attached it to the roof.
And then all of this background material
that I've used is just a fabric that I found on Amazon.
So these are just little fabric pieces,
and I've just staple gunned 'em
to the different wooden dowels.
And that's how I made my backdrop.
Now the idea behind this backdrop was
that I wanted something kind of adventure-related.
I didn't wanna just do what everyone else does
with colored lights.
I wanted to do something that kind of encompasses
the bigger thing that I want to do,
which is create adventure-style films.
I wanted to create something that has that feeling,
and the geodome,
even though it's not something you see all the time,
it is something that you do see
in more like outdoor-style of structures.
It's a pretty cool structure idea.
And when you see houses and tents built in this way,
they look great, and I thought for a studio,
this would be cool.
So for you guys, don't just go and make a geodome,
but think through where does your content fit?
What is your style?
Beyond just being like maybe filmmaker or photography,
that's something that you do,
what kind of feeling do you actually wanna give
your viewers when they're watching your videos?
I wanna stay in that adventure realm.
And that's something that, you know,
if you watched my last video,
I was talking about how I've started
a second YouTube channel that's gonna be
all just adventure films.
And that's because that is something
that I do outside of this channel.
This channel, gear, tutorials, reviews, YouTube education.
Like it's great, but it's not everything that I do.
Okay, so let's talk about lighting in the space.
I have my main key light back here.
That is my Aputure 120D Mark Two.
I'm a big fan of the Mark Twos, they're great.
I actually have the Aputure 120D Mark One up top there.
That's a hair light.
And what I have on both of these is the small soft box.
I use the small soft box with the egg crate
so I can focus in the soft light a little bit better.
Now I like using the Aputure lights
because I can dial everything in on a remote.
So I have this little remote,
and I could turn things on and off.
Oh! (garage door rattling)
Sorry about that, my daughter just spit up all over me.
Do I have it on me?
It's okay.
If you've noticed the last probably three months of videos,
you'll see spit up here and there kind of all over.
It's just, it's part of having a four-month-old.
So for lighting, sometimes you'll see that this backdrop,
I'll light in different ways,
whether it's color or just light.
So recently I've been doing more of this kind of style
where I just use these CAME-TV strip lights.
Now these are amazing because,
not only are they super bright, they're four feet.
You can use them in so many different ways,
but you also get like any color that you want.
So you wanna use 'em to change up your background color.
You can make 'em blue, red, any color.
And I have eight of these.
I actually bought 'em for a shoot
that I did for my client work.
I was able to do some really cool stuff
with red light and texture in the background.
And you can put 'em all on a controller.
That's where I was at before my daughter spit up on me.
Controller, let's just turn these off.
So this is just my set with no background light.
This is my key light, my Aputure 120D Mark Two,
and the one up top, my Aputure 120D Mark One,
and I can control them all from this remote.
Now I also have this set up where I have
the background on these lights as well.
So I have in each of these triangles,
a light up top, and you can see it right there.
It's up there.
Those are two more Aputure lights,
and they're the Light Storm, just the bars.
They're great for, you know, just background lights,
and just they're good lights to work with.
Originally what I thought was I wanted
to do these two window designs.
I wanted to create more depth.
And this is something that you guys can do
in your studios at home, create more depth.
Try not to push yourself up against a wall.
Try not to put yourself in a corner.
What you wanna do is have some separation.
So my idea behind this was to build this set, the geodome,
and have these windows where you can kind of see through.
So that was kinda my idea behind the studio.
Now it's evolved and it's changed.
And the reason that I haven't done this video is
because I keep evolving the studio
and I wasn't completely satisfied with it.
And this brings up a good point.
When it comes to building out a studio,
I think you need to have more of a plan
before you go and just start putting things in the space.
Whether it's a spare bedroom, it's a garage,
you actually have a space dedicated to shooting,
you really wanna think through your brand.
And then you also wanna think through
how you're going to use the space.
I found after building this space and after using it,
I am much more fluid in the way that I shoot.
I don't just have one spot
that I wanna sit at all the time.
Now in my old studio, I had a spot that I sat in,
and that was like my spot that I sat.
I didn't really change it up.
I did start adding a secondary standing position.
And then when I had more space, when I had this garage,
I realized that I just like shooting in all angles,
and I love just moving around.
So the next space that I'm gonna build,
I'm actually going to really
think through the entire layout, 360,
and actually light the entire space
as if it's one whole set,
so that I could put the camera here,
I could put the camera here,
I could put the camera here.
And so you need to think through your style of shooting
and how you wanna use the space.
Are you someone that wants just one dedicated space?
Do you want just like a simple backdrop?
A gray, a blue, a pink, you know, one spot
or are you someone that's gonna be more fluid and moving?
Something to really think about before you
actually go through and build a set
because when you build a three-wall set like this,
you're really kind of married to that
and that's all you can do because when you get to the edges,
it's not as pretty as you could see,
like around this, it doesn't look that good.
All right, let's turn these CAME-TV lights back on.
They do have different styles of CAME-TV lights.
Now, I just have these on a simple light stand and you know,
I can move them all around the studio
depending on where I need 'em.
So I either put 'em on the ground and shoot up,
put 'em on the sides, but having this table back here,
is a great place for me to do product work.
So every time I'm shooting like a product
and I wanna get some B-roll, this is my place to get B-roll.
And you know, depending on where I put it in my backdrop,
I can create some really cool-looking effects.
And when you marry this with some movement,
so I use a JibONE in my studio,
which JibONEs are a great tool
to be able to get moving-style shots.
And I've found that in a studio space like this,
having a JibONE is awesome.
Now they're not the most versatile tools in the world
and they're actually kind of cumbersome to work with.
But when you put them on a solid tripod,
and you put 'em on wheels,
they're amazing to work with in a studio.
So let me just show you since we're over here,
my storage solution.
I just have two of these silver wire racks
and I've put on one side of them,
the egg crates to dampen the sound a little bit,
but these are all on wheels and I can shift 'em around,
and use these two sides with the soundproofing on it
to create less echo.
I haven't really used it that much,
but it was a good idea when I made it.
Ton of egg crates to store all of my stuff.
(rattling)
And it's super easy if I'm here in the studio
or I go out on a client shoot,
I just fill my van with a ton of these egg crates,
grab a cart, makes it super easy to use gear here,
and also use gear out in the field.
All right, let's talk about wheels.
So these are just a set of wheels that you can put
your stands on, your lights on, cameras on.
These are what I put at the bottom of my JibONE.
And what this allows me to do is
just shift stuff around the studio.
And I have these set of wheels on everything in my studio.
So if it's my monitor,
I can wheel my monitor where I want my monitor
to be able to see myself, I can wheel it anywhere.
So if I'm using the JibONE,
I can wheel it to different spots,
whether I'm doing products,
or I wanna put the JibONE over here
and do some behind-the-scene-style shooting,
easy to wheel around with something like this.
With everything being on wheels,
I just wheel it in a space wherever I want it,
flip it on and start shooting.
That's been one of the biggest things about having
this dedicated space is being able to flip on cameras
and just start rolling instead of having
to set up everything every time I have to go shoot.
So if you don't want something like these big,
long bar lights, I highly suggest getting some of these.
These are just little RGB lights,
and you could use them to light up background elements.
These are what I've used in my old studio.
This is what I'm using in this studio as well.
And they're great to add some extra hits of light
on different elements in the background, whether it's like,
you know, a bookshelf, having some light just hit that.
Or it's just like one element.
You know, having individual lights
to hit different things around your studio,
it's gonna help make your lighting
look that much more dynamic.
Okay, over here is my workbench.
And this is one of those Husky just tool chests.
But this is great to store film equipment.
I have lenses in here, I have tools.
I have everything that I need to create my content.
And this is just a space that I come to clean my lenses.
This is all my lens cleaner stuff.
Put this away.
So this is where I come to work on different camera gear
and clean things, play with things, work with things.
This is different than my space over there
because I never have to worry about shooting over here.
This is just a dedicated workbench.
And it's good to have a space that you can just work
so that if you wanna play around
with different camera gear, you wanna set things up,
having a space like this is helpful.
And these Husky just tool chests
become invaluable to creators.
I think my next space,
I'm gonna buy more of this style of product
and actually build out an entire work area
where I could just put batteries on to charge,
so I don't ever have to pull out chargers.
I just have a space.
I come, boom, put all my chargers and go.
And that's one thing I was gonna build in this space,
but I'm moving so, you know,
I didn't fully build out the studio
to the full extent that I wanted to.
And also it's extremely hot in here.
I don't know if you're seeing the sweat drip down yet.
I guess now's a good time to mention
that we insulated the garage,
but it didn't and actually keep it cool.
I put an AC unit in there and just in the California heat
in the summer, it just does not stay cool.
And I apologize for the mess back here.
I am packing right now, I'm about to move.
So it's just a cluttered camera gear everywhere.
I'm shooting this right now on ProRes RAW on the ZCAM.
So this is probably gonna be a ridiculous file size,
but gotta test out this camera and see what it's all about.
And that's one thing, I've never had an air-conditioned
studio in the entire time of building this channel.
So I've had this channel four years now,
and all of those spaces,
whenever it's summer that I'm shooting,
if you're seeing me dripping sweat,
it's because I don't have AC.
I'm shooting right now at 10:00 a.m.
I'm trying to get this done
before this just turns into a sauna.
So one area that doesn't get a whole lot of attention
is my gym setup, so I have my kettle bells.
I have my weights.
I have my rower, kind of all sits in the corner
because when I open the garage, (knocking)
then it allows me to go out there and work out.
And that's just part of the studio.
So I built this little corner over here.
I've got two chairs, I've got my rug.
This is where I do my live streaming from.
I don't do a ton of live streaming,
but when I do, I have this setup.
So down here, I have my Blackmagic live stream connection
and I could put my laptop here and just go for it.
And it's all set up where I just plug in and go.
These racks are super invaluable for creators.
And I use racks all the time,
whether it's in my editing setup or it's here in the garage.
In my office, I have an entire rack setup
that has everything I need for editing,
and I can just plug in my laptop.
When I'm in my studio,
I like just being able to flip on cameras and let 'em roll
and give myself the freedom to mess up,
and give myself the freedom
to do things over and over again,
and play around and not have to worry so much about,
you know, what's going on around me.
When you have a studio,
when you have a dedicated space
where you're not getting interrupted,
it allows you to just be more creative and play around.
I come out here, sit in my chairs,
and this is my place just to think
and work through ideas and be my base camp
for the bigger adventures that I wanna go out and do.
And that's why I called this base camp.
Like I've mentioned it a few times in my videos,
but this is essentially my space, it's my base camp.
And if you can find a dedicated space in your house,
in your apartment, that is just yours for creating content,
it's gonna make things so much easier
when it comes to the whole process,
and being able to put out weekly videos,
or two videos a week, or whatever your consistency is,
having space that you can go back to
and make it your own is super important.
And I highly suggest, you know,
go make your own space and make it really fit you.
There's a lot that went into this.
And this is, like I said, this is a stepping stone.
This is my last day.
After I finish editing this video and do all the B-roll,
I'm gonna tear all this down and I'm gonna start over.
And I'd love to hear from you guys,
where do you have your YouTube space?
Do you share the space with someone else?
Or have you built something like this for you?
Let me know down below in the comments and guys,
if you wanna see how I've evolved the channel,
and how I went from an apartment bedroom
to have my studio space to this garage,
Well, check this video out right here.
This is my first studio that I built.
My first dedicated space.
This video has a ton of ideas
on how to make that space really work for you.
All right, guys, I'll see you over there.